Sunny Abberton's highly personal documentary, narrated by Russell Crowe, examines Australian surf culture – a far cry from the endless summer stereotype image of laid-back guys blessed out on being one with the waves -- through the story of his own family. What it lacks in objectivity, it makes up for in vivid intimacy. The "Bra Boys" are surfers from Maroubra Beach ("maroubra" is an aboriginal word meaning "place of thunder"), a depressed suburban community south of Sydney, riddled with drugs, crime, street violence and broken families. The Abberton brothers – Sunny, Jai, Koby and Dakota – had three different fathers; their mother was a heroin addict and her boyfriend a thief. But their grandmother, Mavis "Ma" Abberton, lived a block from the beach and opened her home not only to her grandsons, but to also their friends, boisterous, directionless youngsters united by a ferocious love of wave riding. They call themselves a tribe – part of a long-standing tradition of beach tribes -- while the police and news media prefer the term "gang." Deeply rooted cultural bias against surfers from poor neighborhoods notwithstanding, the Abbertons and their friends did their part to foster the image of surf larrikins -- violent, tattooed, hell-raising punks who spent their land-based time drinking, baiting cops and waging turf wars. Sunny and Jai surfed professionally -- Sunny went on his first tour when he was 15 – while Koby earned a reputation as one of the world's most accomplished big-wave surfers. Jai also murdered a local thug named Anthony Hines, and Koby was later charged with obstructing justice; their trial by media and legal battles provide the film's dramatic throughline. Unfortunately, this is where Sunny Abberton's closeness to the material becomes a serious liability: His brothers' accounts of events are evasive, and a more professional filmmaker would have introduced other sources to fill in the blanks.

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...BraBoys Practice Essay
Documentaries reinforce or criticise dominant representations of groups in society. Discuss in relation to a documentary you have studied.
Images are a complex communication tool – the intention of the creator and the interpretation of the viewer may not be harmonizing. While BraBoys seeks to criticise their infamous reputation as an anti-social and law-breaking gang, the construction of the documentary has reinforced that dominant representation of the surf group. Sunny Abberton’s documentary of dissent, BraBoys (2007) is constructed to critique the dominant representation of the notorious societal group – “BraBoys” by telling the story from the point of view directly from the underbelly of Maroubra itself. The documentary attempts to utilise viewing conventions of selection of detail, symbolism and audio codes to portray “BraBoys” as a constructive support framework of surfers but with deeper analysis, there is evidence that those codes effectively does both- reinforces and critiques the dominant representation of the surf gang. This is most evident in the retelling of the brawl between the “BraBoys” and the police force.
Abberton attempts to reconstruct the “true story” behind a pivotal event that played a large influence on the representation of the “Bra...

...Abberton’s documentary BraBoys depicts the impact of belonging along with the obstacles his family and friends faced. A film conveying the struggles within the Maroubra area in the 80s/90s, that allows us to experience the connections made within the BraBoys “surf gang” and the challenges that they are faced with.
The BraBoys demonstrate that a sense of belonging can in fact impact us to overcome great challenges, and that no matter how dire your situation, there will always be somewhere for you to belong.
Humans are faced with tests throughout their lives, some more fortunate than others. In the Maroubra community it seemed most of the kids had grown up in uncomfortable situations, most of the BraBoys parents being drug users, alcoholics, or violent. The Maroubra adolescent community seemed to have a dark lure hanging over it, violence and hardship following those who tried to belong. Gangs formed as a result and the streets became dangerous at night. “Growing up we had a lot of crazy things happen like guns held to our heads, chased down the street with people shooting at us, all sorts of things, but its good it turned us into what we are” admits Koby Abberton. One BraBoys explains how he walked around the streets with a bat down his pants because you always had to be prepared for the worst when you were walking at night by...

...A documentary demonstrates an interpretation of the truth by attempting to persuade an audience to side with the makers to endorse their interpretations of issues and events. In the instance Braboys; Blood is thicker then water, directed by Sunny Abberton, the BraBoys gang is viewed as a imitation of a prodigious brotherhood gang of surfers that are victims from occurrences and backgrounds opposed to a gang that dispute with the law by an act of violence. The BraBoys have interpreted issues and events by emphasizing the importance of family, belonging, brotherhood and multiculturalism. The use of presenting constructed footage and personal interviews endorses viewers to see the BraBoys from a positive light, boys who are role models to younger generations of surfers and accept multiculturalism. Events and reenactments within the film proves this documentary is a interpretation of the truth made to display BraBoys from a positive light therefore it can not be trusted. These challenge Societies dominate social attitudes and values towards BraBoys.
In the documentary braboys, blood is thicker then water; the director utilizes the boys characteristic features within a interview to help establish the braboys as a...

...The identity of the BraBoys can be seen through their values and attitudes. They are presented through the Cody, the value of brother ship and Attitude of brother ship through their tattoos and being there for each other.
In part 1 of Braboys, the Boys had taken Jesse Pollock and other younger people on trips to surf. This had been carried on from what the other BraBoys did for Cody and his friends. This shows their values of their society and community, as they are willing to give the younger generations to toughen up and be free with the surf. This shows htat apart from their devilish side, they also have the value of family and friendship with the younger generation.
The Bra Boy’s value towards the beach is shown to be their lifesaver. The beach and surf is everything to them. Sunny Abberton, a Braboy said “The surf, had saved so many kids around here, that have led them to a lifestyle of the ocean instead of a lifestyle in crime.” Showing that the beach has saved them on accounts and they have an optimistic value of the beach.
Values of the Braboys is brother ship, as they had each other’s back. When 2 people had a fight with authorities in a party during Christmas, everyone got into the brawl. This shows how the value of being together in the Braboys is strong....

...GEOGRAPHY
ASSIGNMENT
1. Describe the site and situation of Perth’s CBD and IMZ.
a)
The Perth CBD is located 14 kilometres from the Darling Scarp in the South-West of Western Australia and 7 kilometres East North-East of Fremantle, 16 km SW from midland and 27km NW from Armadale. The Perth CBD is roughly 13 kilometres inland from the Indian ocean. Its latitude and longitude is 31°57’ south and 115°51’ east. The CBD is the most accessible place in. Every railway line makes its way through the CBD, and with almost every major freeway would make its way towards the city the Perth’s CBD is located on the north bank of the swan river which has several major roads that (surrounds) the CBD which includes Mitchell freeway on the west, graham farmer on the east, and Wanneroo road coming from the north. The Perth CBD road pattern is a grid road pattern. The site of Perth’s CBD is built on a fairly flat land that has a slight gradient up more along the north side around Smith Lake. On the south side on the CBD along the swan, the land decreases in height. The north side of the CBD roughly reaches from 0-15 meters above sea level and the south side of the CBD reaches from 0- 20 meters above sea level.
B)
The inner mixed zone (IMZ) is made up of Perth’s oldest suburbs. These include – west perth, Leederville, north Perth and east Perth, these are situated on the frame of the CBD, the majority of it towards the northern side. Like the CBD the IMZ shares the...

...The Boy and His Family Relationships
In a sort of short story style, Marie Howe illustrates a depleting family relationship between a father and his children in the poem, “The Boy,” through its many symbols. With no discernible rhyme scheme, the plot develops, climaxes, and concludes alluding to a short story but in poetic form. The speaker, discovered through clues within the poem, is the younger sister of the boy and she is listening and learning from the examples set by her brothers. There is no mention of a mother so the focus is kept on the relationship between the father and children.
Opening the poem is a description of the setting and it begins to set up the solemn tone: “My older brother is walking down the sidewalk into the suburban summer night” (1-2). The term “sidewalk” begins its symbolic meaning in this first line and the suburban setting indicates they are a middle-class family. “The Boy” is taking place during the summer months when school is out of session when children have fewer restrictions and more free time. Following is the description of the boy, an ordinarily dressed child, which denotes his normalness, and the direction in which he is walking: “white T-shirt, blue jeans – to the field at the end of the street” (3).
Lines 4-6 exudes symbolism in many ways: “Hangars Hideout the boys called it, an undeveloped plot, a pit overgrown with weeds, some old...

...Naturally Boys feel the need to assert their power to others at an early age. Rick Moody's short story "Boys", shows us the relationships between brother and sister and then between the boys and their father. Boys in early ages can be very ruthless and reckless. In Rick Moody's "Boys", the power of masculinity takes over the boys lives and through tragedy the boys are able to come together and let down their guard.
In the early stages of the boys lives they feel the need to show off their masculinity and they do this by tormenting their little sister. In Rick Moody's "Boys", it states, "not long after which boys gig a hole in the back yard and bury their younger sister's dolls two feet down, so that she will never find these dolls and these dolls will rot in hell" (Moody 196). The Boys relate their sisters dolls to femininity and they feel the need to show off their power by destroying them. Without realizing that they're hurting their sister they do it anyways because they felt the need to show off their masculinity. This shows how at a young age boys can be so reckless toward a family member and not care about how they feel and how they are affecting their lives. Young kids in today's society are very destructive and do not care about other peoples feelings. Later down the road in life...